Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Return of Man Night

Natasha started a new small group that meets on Tuesday nights, so Man Night has returned! It is fun for me to have some time alone with Max...I hope he feels the same way, I know he does.

We spent the evening having fun...we guzzled some milk, played with his toys, and slammed down some squash. Have you ever tasted baby food? Let me tell you it doesn't taste good, so you aren't missing anything. After warming up Max's food I usually taste it to test the temperature, usually a bad choice. I do have a favorite...it would be the mix of Blueberry and Pear...good stuff.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Standing

Max's balance is improving. Last night we were playing with his toys and at one point he let go of everything and stood there for a 10 count...at 11 he was on his bum. He had the biggest smile on his face. It is fun to see him figure out he is so close to being mobile. Yes, it scares me to think of him being mobile.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Appropriate today

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does nothing to serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within all of us.
It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Marianne Williamson

Sunday, January 06, 2008

So I Stay Near the Door

Poem: “So I Stay Near The Door”
by: Samuel Moor Shoemaker

“I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world—
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men.
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it . . .
So I stay near the door.

“The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door—the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch—the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter—Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it—live because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him . . .
So I stay near the door.

“Go in, great saints, go all the way in—Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics—In a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening . . .
So I stay near the door.

“The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving—preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them, too,
I stay near the door.

“I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay in too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door—Thousands of them, millions of them.
But—more important for me—One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch,
So I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
‘I had rather be a door-keeper . . .’
So I stay near the door.”

Friday, January 04, 2008

8 Months

Max is 8 months old today. It is hard to believe that 8 months ago today we were at the hospital meeting our little Max for the first time. It seems so long ago and so recent all at the same time.

I often find myself wondering what we use to do with our time before him. Now at work I find myself racing to get home to play ball with him. He loves his ball. He hops up and down on his butt while screeching as we roll it back and forth.

He is half a step from crawling...the ball has worked wonders in this area. Everytime it is just out of his grasp he goes from sitting to almost on his hands and knees to reach it but just not quite...and then he pushes himself past that point and ends up on his belly, stretching to reach his ball.

He is also about half a step from walking. He has the shuffle going and has great side to side balance but doesn't quite have the front to back balance thing nailed down yet. When he does...watch out! Right now he likes to hold on to my fingers so he can walk around chasing Abby, our dog, or his ball. I can't imagine that he goes more than a couple months before he is chasing Abby around on his own.

I love him. I love being a dad. I love watching him grow. I love seeing my wife as a mom. She is incredible. I am sure he has no idea how blessed he is to have her as his mommy.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Salting Church with Daddy







Max got a ball! (video and audio)